Wreck victim was wanted by police at time of crash

Fatal motorcycle accident

Posted: Tuesday, August 09, 2005

By Joe Johnsonjoe.johnson@onlineathens.com

The Lexington man who was killed last week in a high-speed motorcycle crash on Atlanta Highway apparently was running from police because he was wanted for a probation violation and had marijuana on him at the time, police said.

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"I believe he was wanted, and he also had marijuana as well as a suspended license," said Georgia State Patrol Trooper Paul Waller, who investigated last Tuesday's crash that killed 22-year-old Joseph Embrick.

A check of Clarke County Superior Court records confirmed Embrick was wanted for a probation violation.

Although the investigation is closed, there remains many questions about the curious circumstances of the 2:45 a.m. wreck, in which Embrick and a passenger crashed into the "Welcome to Bogart" sign while driving faster than 100 mph, according to Waller.

The trooper said the woman riding on the back of Embrick's motorcycle, 18-year-old Jessica Lordan of Kennesaw, had known Embrick for about two weeks. Waller said Embrick had told her his name was Joseph Morgan and that he was from Wales in Great Britain.

Embrick has a record of criminal convictions that began in 2003 in Madison County, where he was sentenced to two years at the Montgomery Boot Camp after being found guilty of theft of motor vehicle parts, according to the state Department of Corrections.

He was sentenced in Clarke County Superior Court to one year of probation after he pleaded guilty to loitering/prowling at the Game Day condominiums on West Broad Street, but a warrant for violating that probation was signed last month by a Clarke County State Court judge.

Waller said he did not know how Embrick and Lordan met, nor where they were before to the accident.

"She was kind of groggy when I spoke with her," the trooper said. "She only said they'd been out that night, but didn't specify where."

Although police had a Lexington address for Embrick, the man told Lordan he was taking her to his home in Bogart the night of the crash, Waller said.

In addition to having a suspended license, the motorcycle didn't belong to Embrick, according to Waller, who said it was owned by a Winder man. The owner told police he had given it to his son, Embrick's roommate, the trooper said.

The events leading to Embrick's death began when a University of Georgia police officer tried to stop the man on South Lumpkin Street for driving without a helmet. Embrick sped off, and was later spotted traveling west on Atlanta Highway by an Athens-Clarke police officer, who was told by a supervisor not to chase the motorcycle.

Embrick apparently couldn't negotiate a curve because he was driving faster than 100 mph, according to Waller, who said the motorcycle struck the "Welcome to Bogart" sign and both Embrick and Lordan were thrown to the ground.

Embrick and Lordan were taken to St. Mary's Hospital, where Embrick died when taken off life support at about 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Lordan was released from the hospital after she was treated for a broken leg, Waller said.

"She was very fortunate," the trooper said. "I'm amazed she was wearing his helmet, and I'm sure that saved her life."